Bibles

Originally published 5 November 2006, 12:21 p.m.

As I was getting ready to go to church this morning, I was getting my stuff together and making a mental inventory of everything I wanted to make sure I had - purse, phone, pager, keys. I thought, My Bible's in the car, and remembered my daughter last weekend after church saying, "Mommy, take your Bible in." I replied that that Bible stays in the car; it's my church Bible.

I thought about that on the way out to the car. I have so many Bibles! I have a church Bible, a devotional Bible, a Bible on my desk at work, a Bible that I carry in my purse so I'll have it when I'm seeing patients... And that doesn't include the ones on my bookcase that are handy for when I'm sitting at the computer working on sermons or Sunday School lessons. Those include many that were gifts; all of them were, actually. There's my favorite one, a King James Bible with a black leather cover that I've had for 30 years now. And my next Bible, also King James, though this one with study notes. A few others were Christmas gifts or graduation gifts.

I kind of take all my Bibles for granted. After all, they're easy to get and I can always buy more, either online or at the store. It really made me think about all those people who don't even have one single Bible to call their own. The Word of God is for the people of God, and all people are His creation. Therefore, all people should have access to His word.

How Un-Christian is Halloween, Really?

Originally published 25 October 2006, 2:00 p.m.

It's October 25th, just a mere 6 days til Halloween, a week before All Saint's Day and a week and a day before the Mexican celebration The Day of the Dead. This seems a macabre time - everything is about dying or death. The leaves are turning and have been cascading off the trees to dance in the brisk Autumn breeze for a few weeks now, rendering a beautiful vision in the midst of approaching death. Halloween carries with it themes of death. All Saint's Day marks the beginning of the liturgical calendar and has traditionally been a celebration of reverence for dead Christians. And the Day of the Dead is nothing but a celebration and a chance for those who've died to come back to communicate with those they've left behind.

Yeah, I'm fairly conservative, but we observe Halloween simply as a fun holiday. We go to parties and our daughter dresses up (she's Belle again this year and looks absolutely precious in her costume). For some reason this week, I've been remembering the Halloween celebrations of my youth. Back before the ultra conservatives started harping on Halloween as a day of Satan worship (which it's NOT), we used to have fabulously fun Halloween parties at my home church.

Picture two of the fine older ladies of the church, both dressed as witches, sitting and stirring a cauldron of hot cider (complete with dry ice underneath for effect). There were games galore, including Bingo. Unfortunately, Bingo suddenly one year was classified as "gambling," so that got abolished. And the male mission group - all teens - along with their leader, put together a great haunted house under the sanctuary. Were we worshiping Satan with our activities? NO! And I didn't think any less of the elderly deacon who was calling the Bingo game, nor did I question the sincerity of the faith of the two ladies decked out in black flowing robes and pointed hats.

These activities simply were fun. Where am I going with this? Hmm, not sure. I guess I wanted to share my thoughts on Halloween and my disappointment that my daughter won't get to experience "the dark side" of this holiday in a safe environment until she's older and the safety factor goes down considerably. And sometimes it's just fun seeing the older people dressed up.

The Existence of God - What is God?

First published 29 August 2006, 9:21 a.m.

For some reason this morning, my mind started tripping back to my first theology course and reviewing the ontological argument for the existence of God. OK. I know I just lost some of you with that. Keep in mind that, while the argument is very real (the concept was first proposed by Anselm of Canterbury back in the Middle Ages), these are my thoughts on it. I know I probably said something similar in my final exam when I had to defend my theological beliefs and speak to how they impact my ministry. I also know that my friends list is very ecumenical, with Protestants and Catholics, as well as at least two very sweet Pagans who likely act more Christ-like than some Christians I've encountered.

When I was taking theology, my professor taught us the two primary arguments for the existence of God: Thomas Aquinas's a posteori belief that the existence of God is based on our experiences of God. However, "pushed to its logical conclusion," as Dr. H used to say, this argument doesn't satisfy, because if I push it using all my knowledge of other theories of creation, God may not be the answer I come up with. Aquinas's belief takes faith in Yahweh God for granted, and while that works great for me, it may not for someone else.

Instead, I tend to be drawn to Anselm's a priori argument. Anselm stated that God is "that than which no greater can be conceived." Maybe I like the creativity implied in this statement. What would I want my God to be? (If you're more comfortable substituting the phrase "Higher Power" here, that's fine.) My "ideal God" would be loving. Merciful. Just. He'd be creator of everything and Savior of that Creation. All-knowing. All-present. Able to care for the whole world, yet also able to care for me intimately, personally. He'd be knowledgeable of the tiniest organism that lives in the darkest depths of the sea - that organism that people have yet to discover even exists - yet also knowledgeable about me. My God would be able to know my heart, my soul, my deepest fears, my strongest yearnings, my passions, my loves, my hurts, my heartaches - all that I am - and still love me so deeply.

So I've come up with this conception of my "ideal God." What in the world could be better than that? LOL... Some people have said, "Nothing," thinking that there's nothing more to add, since they believe that their God is all those things. But wait! There is something that's even better than this conception of God, and that is... For that God to be real! And He is!

In all of my studies of other religions and their deities, and taking into account my respect for those who worship or believe differently than I do, I still have yet to find a god who is everything my God is. The other deities seem to have limits, and I think the greatest one is that they don't offer unconditional acceptance and love.

Comments welcomed, and not just the "great writing!" ones (though I'll never deny anyone that)...